"What's going on, Chip?" Fabian asked, still resting on his shoulder. "How come you're so quiet?"

"I was having a telepathic conversation with my Captain," Chip responded. "He told me to continue working alongside you, and that I am not to harm any of your companions under any circumstances until we are all safely outside of the canyon."

"...Cool." Fabian wanted to be happy about this news. The extra help was great for them, and Chip wouldn't have to worry about any potential consequences for working with Fabian. Everyone was going to be able to walk away happy.

But, at the same time, there was this horrid nagging voice niggling at the back of his mind. After all, wasn't this just a little too convenient? What if Chip was just saying what Fabian wanted to hear? What if he was lying about that conversation with the Captain? Or, what if it did happen, but the Captain actually told Chip to stay on Fabian's good side to lull him into a false sense of security?

Fabian slapped himself in the face. "What am I thinking?! This is the kind of stuff Nero says! Not everyone is gonna be like Scrub! I have to keep believing that. I… I can still trust people. I have to."

"Why did you do that?" Chip asked.

"I'm just having stupid thoughts," Fabian said. "I'm glad to hear that, Chip! Let's kick Scotcher's ass and set all these people free!"

Chip stared at him for a moment, but didn't say anything. "Agreed. If my understanding of the situation is correct, the rest of the rebels are likely hiding away in a cave. The fact that we haven't seen any bodies implies that they're in safe condition right now, but we shouldn't waste time."

"Right!" Fabian said. "We should probably go meet up with Duff and Zach before we do any more searching though, right? Just to let 'em know what's going on?"

Chip thought about it for a minute. "Yes, that would be wise. Scotcher knows where we are, and if Duff is as flimsy as I remember, leaving those two alone can only cause us more trouble."

And so, Chip marched over towards the outcropping where Fabian came to, where Duff and Zach were clinging to each other, completely and utterly terrified by the Golurk towering over them. "Ch-Ch-Chip?!" Duff shouted. "A-Are you here to hurt Zach? 'Cause, I won't let you!"

Fabian waved at them. "No, he's cool! We're friends now!"

"Y-You… What?" Zach asked. "Fabian, they're with the Syndicate!"

"Yeah, I know," Fabian said. "But, they apparently really hate Scotcher, so they agreed to help us out! The more the merrier, right?"

Zach looked to the side. "Not enough to protest when he came to your people with an offer to–"

In one swift movement, Chip grabbed Zach by the throat and hoisted him up to their eye level. "I protested. Don't insinuate otherwise." Their voice wasn't any different from the usual monotone, but there was absolutely an edge to it, and even Fabian was able to notice.

Zach struggled helplessly. "I- I- I… Apologies for my thoughtless remark. We should cooperate right now."

Chip sighed and placed Zach back down. "The acting Captain is a dear friend of mine, so I will respect his order to continue playing nice with you. However, my personal feeling is that you should die as soon as possible."

"How come you hate him so much?" Fabian asked. "Oh, wait, is it because he's the king now?"

"Yes," Chip said bluntly.

Fabian pumped his fist. He was so good at reading the room.

The mention of Zach's royal status made him gulp. "I am not my father," he said, his voice wavering. "Were I to be placed in a position of power, I can assure you that–"

"You can't assure me of anything," Chip interrupted. "You've already proven yourself to be a dishonest person, 'Zach.' You have no credibility, and your word means nothing."

Fabian grimaced. It was a little disheartening, thinking about how Zach was stringing them along all this time. "Hey, Zach," he said in as neutral of a tone as he could muster.

"Y-Yes?" Zach replied.

"It really hurts when people lie to me. Now's not a good time for it, but we're gonna have a talk soon, got it?"

Zach took a step back. "I-I didn't lie, per se–"

"You knew what you were doing."

"...Apologies."

Fabian was being way harsher than he normally would be, and he already knew he was going to feel terrible about it in a day or two, but with this happening at exactly the same time as Scrub's betrayal, he was sick of people taking advantage of him. He took a deep breath. "Like I said, not now. We gotta kick Scotcher's ass first, right?"

Zach nodded hesitantly. "I suppose I'm quite blessed, for us to have such a reprehensible common enemy."

"I think it's actually really bad that Scotcher is still breathing, but okay!" Fabian said. It took a moment for the thing he just said to register in his own mind. "Did I seriously just wish death on someone? Sweet Arceus, I really need to chill out."

"Preach!" Duff said. "Have you seen the inside of that guy's house? It's actually genuinely painful to look at."

"And yet, it is by far the most pleasant thing about him," Chip said, earning a snort from both Fabian and Duff.

Duff crawled out of the hiding spot completely to join the rest of them. "That's why we're gonna beat him into a pulp!"

Fabian nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Time to get down to business! How do we find the others?"

Instead of responding with an answer, Chip knelt to the ground and placed a palm against it, remaining completely silent until the earth began quivering lightly.

"Whatcha doing?" Fabian asked, taking the opportunity to hop off of Chip. As exhilarating as the ride was, he needed to keep himself moving or he was gonna pass out from his injuries.

Just then, the sound of panicked screaming echoed from across the lake. The words "Cave in!" were barely audible, and only by squinting was Fabian able to spot a collection of specks in the distance fleeing a cave.

Chip stood back up to attention and dusted their hands. "I've located them." He waved towards them with jarring peppiness.

"W-Was that Earthquake?" Duff whimpered. "D-Dude, we aren't supposed to use that down here! What if you killed them?"

"I'm very bad at using Earthquake, and I wouldn't be powerful enough to collapse the roof of a cave even if I wanted to," Chip responded. "However, knowing my brother, a couple of loose pebbles is all that is necessary to scare him out."

"Wow, smart!" Fabian said. "I'm really glad I unburied you!"

"I am also glad you did that," Chip said.

It didn't take too much longer for their four separated comrades to make their way around the lake. As soon as they were close enough to be clearly visible, Fabian started waving at them. "Hey guys! We're all alive! Even Duff!"

Lara rolled her eyes and shook one of her Roserade bouquet hands around until a single 50 Poké coin fell out, which she begrudgingly handed to Dillon.

The Chesnaught accepted with a cocky grin. "C'mon, what'd I tell you? Kid's too damn lucky to die."

"I saw him falling into the shallow end!" Lara protested. "There's not enough luck in the world for him to survive that!"

"Clearly, you've never tried playing blackjack with him," Dillon said.

The Lombre whose name Fabian forgot nodded solemnly. "Never seen him bust a single time in my life. Freaky stuff."

"G-Glad we're all in high spirits!" Zach declared.

Dillon stared at him, completely unamused. "Look. The fact that you're alive right now means Fabian chose not to kill you. After what I just saw, I don't wanna get on his bad side, so I'm not gonna do it myself, but I'd keep my mouth shut as much as possible."

Zach swiftly nodded and retreated behind Fabian.

Dale, who was silently lurking behind the rest of his friends up until now, marched towards Chip, winded up a punch, and slammed his fist into their leg. Chip didn't do a thing to evade or retaliate, as if they were fully anticipating this. "...I'm sorry," they said.

"Seven years!" Dale shouted, punching Chip for a second time. "You ditched us for seven years! You ditched me for seven years! What the hell is your problem?!"

Fabian felt like he shouldn't be there for this, but he feared that any sudden movements would draw attention to himself, so he remained as still as physically possible.

"I'm sorry," Chip repeated. "After what happened with Mom and Dad, I couldn't go anywhere without being reminded. I felt that I was going to lose my mind if I stayed, and if my escape were to fail, I didn't want you to die with me."

"Then you should've stayed gone!" Dale spat. "Why are you even here?"

Dillon wrapped an arm around Dale. "C'mon, you don't mean that," he said softly.

Dale sighed. "Dillon, please don't try to calm me down right now."

After giving Chip an apologetic smile, Dillon backed off.

"I fell down here on accident whilst trying to assassinate Zacharias," Chip said. "However, now that the situation has changed, my one goal is to kill Scotcher as swiftly as possible." Noting the confused looks from all of the canyon dwellers, Chip continued. "I became a member of a terrorist organization during my time outside. The same group that Nero Moreno was once a key part of, if you've met him."

"Wasn't that guy an archaeologist?" Dillon whispered. Fabian thought about responding, but he was still trying to evade notice by remaining as still as possible, so he didn't.

"Sorry, shouldn't have asked!" Dale said. "I don't care! Do you know how hard it was? I was all alone! If Dillon wasn't there for me, I'd have killed myself! It was suffocating, and miserable, and–" he turned towards Fabian. "What are you doing?!"

Fabian shook his head solemnly, his worst fears of making things more awkward having come true.

After a moment, Chip knelt down, getting slightly closer to Dale's face. "Okay. Kill me."

"Wh… What?" Dale asked, taking a step back.

"I'm not afraid to die to make things right," Chip said, the golden glow of their eyes reflecting off of Dale's body. "I failed you as a brother, so if you'd like, you may kill me. I would ask that you allow me to live until Scotcher has been killed, but after that, I would not protest or retaliate if you ended my life."

The two brothers, both completely stone faced, just stared at each other for a while.

Then, Dale groaned loudly and threw his arms up in the air. "Fine, whatever! You win! You're such a weirdo, man! Let's go "

Fabian nudged Duff. "I… what?" was all he could really ask.

Duff gave Fabian a helpless look. "I dunno man, they're just like this."

"Don't complain, this could've gone way worse," Dillon muttered. "Last time Chip wanted to apologize to Dale for something, they started sawing their leg off. He's a weirdo."

"I treasure my honor," Chip said. "I don't have any right to live in a world I contributed injustice to."

"You're so cool!" Fabian said.

Chip nodded, placed his hands on his hips, and stared off into the distance. "I try my best."

Seeing Fabian's eyes sparkling, Duff kicked some pebbles to the side defeatedly. "I'll never be able to compete with that…" he mumbled.

Lara facepalmed. "Can we just figure out the plan already? Are we gunning for Scotcher again or are we gonna regroup?"

"We're doing an immediate counterattack," Dillon said. "It's safe to assume that Scotcher is sending men down here to snuff us out, and he also probably thinks we won't be able to reach the embassy, so it won't be too well-guarded. Chip, you were able to climb out of the entire canyon, right? Getting to the embassy shouldn't be an issue."

"Of course," Chip said. "It will take several hours to scale this distance, but I have the stamina."

"Wait, how come they don't just fly us out?" Fabian asked. "Golurks can take off really quick, right? Shouldn't they just fly everyone in the canyon out?"

"They thought about that," Dillon said. "Apparently, there's an organ in Golurks that they need to fly, so one of Scotcher's men will surgically remove it from any Golett while they're babies."

"It also cuts your lifespan down to a third," Dale added bitterly. "So that's always fun to think about."

Fabian's eyes widened. "That's… horrible." Scotcher had to die, and Fabian was sure of it now.

"All the more reason to make every second count," Chip said, sounding distant. "Let's move."

A worrying thought entered Fabian's mind. "How old are you, Chip?" he asked, not sure if he wanted an answer.

"...Twenty-four."

"Oh." Against his will, Fabian's mind began doing the arithmetic. With a lifespan of around eighty years, Chip would be lucky to see three more. Thinking about that was agonizing and the agony drove him to think about it more.

"This is evil! This whole thing is pure evil, and nobody ever tried to stop it! Not the King, not Zach, not the Guilds, not Dad, not me, not anyone!"

It reached a point where Duff had to call his name multiple times before Fabian noticed. "Fabian!" he shouted.

Fabian blinked a couple of times. The concerned looks from everyone around made his cheeks burn. "S-Sorry, ignore me. Chip's right, we can't waste any more time!" He marched towards Chip and onto their back, hoping to exude enough bravery to cover up his little episode.

Without another word, everyone else followed along, and Chip began his climb.

It was around midnight when Nero decided to make his move. Thanks to the mouthful of Chesto berries he consumed, he wasn't feeling drowsy at all. He'd have preferred to wait even longer, when even the night shift guards would be weary, but he was just too eager to see Scotcher killed. The interior design alone was a crime worthy of capital punishment, and he wasn't fond of the child labor stuff either.

Even though it was late at night and the guards had no reason to pay too much attention, Nero was being as cautious as possible, scanning multiple rooms ahead for movement at all times. He was never one to repeat a mistake, after all.

Although he spent well over an hour doing nothing but waiting for guards to be comfortably out of his way, Nero couldn't complain at all, because he made it all the way back to the hallway where the door to Scotcher's room was without incident. The same guards as before were standing in front of the door just around the corner, though looking significantly more weary. "Are they working the day shift and the night shift?" Nero wondered to himself.

Patience was the name of the game, but at the same time, Nero wasn't confident that a true opening would appear at all before the sun rose, Scotcher woke up, and he'd end up needing to spend twelve hours pretending to tolerate him. The mere thought that there was an entire Royal Guard of like minded Pokémon almost made Nero gag and give himself away.

Nero took a deep breath. If he didn't make a move now, he was never going to. "Fortune favors the bold," he told himself. With a paperclip turned makeshift lockpick at the ready, he stuck his neck out just enough so that he could have a line of sight on the array of green vases that dotted the halls and applied force on the furthest one.

The emeralds used to make the vase must not have been genuine, as it shattered into pieces the moment it hit the ground. It made more noise than Nero would've liked, but it definitely got the job done. Both guards sluggishly marched over to the vase while Nero darted for the door.

There was no quadruped-friendly doorplate, and the knob was very high up, but this was true of every door in the building, and Nero had practiced the exact stunt he was about to pull dozens of times over on his own room's door.

Nero threw himself at the door, leaping as high as he possibly could, and narrowly managed to grab onto the knob with a single paw. He used the other to stick his paperclip into the lock, which was so simple that even Fabian would be able to pick it. From there, he leaned back and allowed the door to swing aside, he dropped down, applied some force to it, and slipped through just before it shut.

With a quick sigh of relief, Nero ducked back into the shadows. There was no reason for Scotcher to be awake, but just in case something roused him, he didn't want to be visible. Of course, he had all of his supplies on him should worse come to worst, but the only one he hoped to use was the switchblade he picked up at a local utility store. This was the second knife he'd obtained during his travels, and he was considering starting up a collection. He'd always had a fascination with bladed weapons, so the prospect was delightful to him. Maybe he could pick up a new one on every stop they made?"

"Focus, Nero!" he scolded himself. "There will be all the time in the world to daydream about knives once Scotcher's dead!"

Scotcher's bedroom had a massive circular window that made up the entire wall behind his bed, allowing so much light in that the chandelier above's output probably would've looked pathetic by comparison. Somehow, by complete accident, Scotcher had managed to be by far the most annoying assassination target Nero had ever laid eyes on.

It was a little funny to Nero, how helpless Scotcher was, curled up in his aggressively soft mattress under a mountain of blankets. He genuinely couldn't imagine having a mindset that would allow him to fall asleep with the knowledge that people could find him. The idea of being completely vulnerable to assassination for an entire third of your day, every single day, was unfathomably stupid to Nero. He found it hard to sympathize with targets who were this overconfident, this naive, this careless.

As he mused to himself about the sheer arrogance required to perform eight consecutive hours of sleep, he scaled the nightstand, a wooden table unevenly stained green. Scotcher was finally within range, and Nero wasn't going to waste any more time than he already had.

But no sooner than his knife switched open, the entire room shook with a horrible crashing noise from above, and Nero was knocked off of the nightstand. He landed on his bad paw, forcing him to yelp out in pain against his will.

Scotcher bolted forward. "Nero, what are you…" he trailed off as he looked up.

Once the pain died down enough for Nero to regain his ability to process information, he turned his head up as well.

Fabian was peering down a massive hole in the ceiling, sitting atop a familiar Golurk. "What gives, Nero?!" he complained. "You woke Scotcher up!"

"Sorry? Even pretending as if my shout was what woke him up, Scotcher would be dead before he knew it if you hadn't ruined everything!" Nero shot back.

"I- What?!" Scotcher demanded.

"Quiet, this isn't about you!" Nero snapped.

Fabian jumped through the ceiling opening. When he landed on his feet, his knees buckled and he fell to the ground, rolling around and screaming out in pain.

Hoping to capitalize on this amusing failure, Nero lunged at Scotcher with the knife, but the Meowscarada swatted him away with a flick of the wrist and Nero's whole body slammed into the wall. "You… You betrayed me?" Scotcher asked.

"Yes, it's what I tend to do," Nero said, sliding down the wall.

"But, I offered you my protection!"

Nero scoffed. "If you're foolish enough to allow me to stay the night in your home, you're clearly too foolish to protect me from even mild threats."

Scotcher wiped away tears and clapped his paws twice. "Guards? Do away with these two at once!"

No answer.

"Guards?"

Fabian grinned. "Sorry, guards are all busy! What do you think all the other rebels are doing right now?"

"This isn't fair!" Scotcher protested, stamping his feet. "I don't want to do work! Will you two promise to leave if I pay you both a million Poké?"

"Yes," Nero said.

"No way!" Fabian said.

Nero earned a glare from Fabian. "Hm. How about we compromise? I'll take both millions and leave, while you take your chances here playing hero?"

"How about you sit down and shut up, and I don't punt you into the moon?" Fabian shot back.

"Try me."

Fabian lunged at Nero, who deftly stepped out of the way. "Stay still, dammit!" he yelled as he hit the ground.

Scotcher squinted at them. "Are you two… alright?"

"One of us is," Fabian huffed, pulling himself up.

Nero nodded. "You can say that again."

"I was talking about me, not you!" Fabian yelled. "That's not–"

Fabian's demeanor shifted abruptly, and he ducked just as a beam of concentrated green energy blasted past where his head would've been. "Right, of course, you're a cheater," Scotcher said.

Fabian rolled to the side and picked himself back up. "Stop distracting me, Nero!"

"The only 'distraction' is the notion that you can win this fight," Nero argued. "He has every advantage, from strength to typing to numbers, and none of that is even to mention how severely injured you are from your battle with Scrub! We simply cannot win without a miracle! We have to leave and regroup!"

"What, and let all these people suffer even longer?!" Fabian spat. "You're just being a selfish asshole!" Before Nero could get a word in, Fabian sprinted at Scotcher with his jaw hanging open, but the Meowscarada had all the time in the world to dodge. He counterattacked with a swift jab to the gut, causing Fabian to keel over.

Nero applied as much force as he could to Fabian's body, launching him away from Scotcher before he could fall victim to any more follow-ups. "You're being an idiot," Nero said. "Do you think I take pleasure in the idea of allowing mass child labor to continue?"

"...Yeah, kinda!" Fabian shouted, charging in for another attack, somehow expecting a different result.

Nero blinked. It occurred to him that Fabian would be very, very dead if not for his constant efforts to keep them both alive. He'd have died at the Guild, he'd have died in Ferrumark, and he'd have died in this canyon. Sure, the only reason Nero saved him time and time again was out of convenience, but he couldn't help but feel a certain degree of indignation at being reduced to cardboard-cutout supervillain. A bare minimum of gratitude was in order, he felt, and it was nothing short of childish to claim the moral high ground while being so petulant.

Scotcher smirked and held a green-glowing paw out as Fabian approached. Apparently, he wasn't lucky enough to receive a vision, because his eyes widened far too late.

"Hm. That'll hurt," Nero thought to himself.

The full force of a Solar Beam crashed directly into Fabian's chest. It lasted for a few seconds. Fabian fell to the ground at the very moment it ended, the beam having tunneled through his skin completely, exposing flesh.

"N-Nero, what… What the hell?" Fabian asked.

"Apologies, I was so excited by the idea of suffering children that I lost focus," Nero said. "Perhaps the agonizing pain you're enduring as a result of your terrible decision to pick a fight with someone out of your league could've been avoided if you'd have chosen to listen to me for once?"

"Petty bastard!" Fabian roared, hobbling his way up yet again, clutching the cavity in his chest. "When I'm through with this guy, I'm gonna tear you apart!"

Scotcher chuckled gleefully. "Oh, sweetie, you aren't going to win. Moreno's right, you were never going to! I see your wounds, you know." He pulled out his wallet. "I'm a bit of a gambling man, actually, so I'll put my money where my mouth is. If you can walk all the way to my location, I will give you ten million Poké."

"SHUT UP!" Fabian screamed. Slowly, he began to walk forwards, one foot at a time, his legs wobbling more and more with each step.

He didn't even make it halfway before collapsing.

Tactically speaking, this was one of the biggest blunders Nero had ever made in his life, but he didn't regret a thing. There was a certain level of vindication in watching Fabian squirming on the ground, trying not to drown in a puddle of blood born of poor decisions.

"Poor thing," Scotcher purred, kneeling down to Fabian's level and pinching his cheeks like he was a baby. "I'd love to put you out of your misery, but we all know that'd be a bad idea, don't we! I don't get to turn in your bounty if you're dead, and I'm not missing out on that. Power through for me, won't you, tough guy?"

Despite the look of pure, primal rage on Fabian's face, he didn't move at all. Judging by the wild, glassy look in his eye, Torrent had probably activated by now, but it was too little, too late.

"Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. I suppose I should've known better than to become so reliant on him."

Nero began scanning the halls, hoping to find a route leading to the canyon's exit. Shockingly, the revolutionaries were making far quicker work of the guards than expected, leaving a decently clear cut path outside.

Or at least, it seemed that way. It was hard to pick up at first because of all the movement everywhere, but as he focused on the exit, he noticed four figures headed into the canyon. "Scotcher's reinforcements, perhaps? But, when would he have sent for them? Surely, it'd take at least a full day for anyone to arrive."

Scotcher dropped Fabian's head onto the ground. "Alright, you're next, Nero! There will be no mercy, I have quite the low opinion of traitors. At least Vanadis here has some honor!"

"If the cost of honor is a gallon of my own blood, I'll make do without," Nero said, nodding towards Fabian's barely-struggling body.

"You're about to have neither," Scotcher said. He stuck out his paw, readying another Solar Beam, and Nero's eyes darted around the room in search of a place to hide.

But nothing happened.

Scotcher was frozen in place. "Wh- What's going on?!"

"That is enough, Lord Scotcher," declared a cold, feminine voice standing just outside the room.

Scotcher's eyes widened. "M-M-Madame Liskey!" he stammered, forcing a grin as an unimpressed Tsareena stepped into the room. "Can you explain why I've been frozen in place?"

Three more Pokémon filed into place behind her: a Breloom, a Ribombee, and a Ledian, their expressions each ranging from angry to exhausted. "Royal Guardsman Lord Scotcher," Liskey began, producing a long piece of parchment paper. "In accordance with a unanimous vote during a meeting held with all Royal Guardsmen besides yourself, your conduct has been deemed unacceptable, and you are to be terminated at once."

Scotcher scowled. "Y-You can't do this! I am a lord, dammit! We're equals!"

"You're the worst, Scotcher!" the Breloom chimed in cheerily.

"I'm gonna piss waterfalls over your grave!" the Ribombee added.

"Yes, yes, completely agreed," the Ledian said, buzzing over to Scotcher. "More importantly, tell me, did that mixture have any side effects? Anything itchy? It was made to be quite indetectable, so I'm hoping you were caught off-guard. Did it work?"

"Piss off, Meade!" Scotcher snarled. "Let me go this instant! What did I even do wrong?!"

The Tsareena blinked a couple times. "Are you fucking serious?"

"I performed my duties to accumulate wealth for our reborn nation!" Scotcher spat. "What else do you want from me?!"

"You're running a slave labor camp for children, for Landorus's sake!" Liskey said. "How many children have died here?"

Scotcher scoffed. "Sure, that's your concern. Killing children is completely monstrous, but locking them up for the rest of their lives is perfectly–"

"Nobody ever said that!" Liskey yelled. "Stop saying that as if anyone told you confining children indefinitely is in any way better!"

"Who cares?!" Scotcher demanded. "You can't do this to me! You have no right to treat me like a thief or a beggar!"

The glare Liskey shot at Scotcher could melt iron. "Scotcher, when we drafted our constitution, we declared that Tullabar is on the brink of a new era. One of prosperity for all, not just the monied and the privileged. Evidently, there's no room for an obsolete tyrant such as yourself in the new Tullabar."

"Obsolete?!" Scotcher roared. "H-Hold on, I can still be useful to you! Look, I've already defeated Fabian Vanadis, and Nero Moreno is in the room! You can have their bounties thanks to me!"

"Snitch," Nero muttered.

"I have eyes, yes," Liskey said, scowling at Scotcher. "I'm surprised to see both Nero Moreno and Fabian Vanadis down here, of all places, but the affairs of the Guild are of no interest to me. We have no affiliation with them one way or the other until they make a move."

Nero sighed in relief and retreated into the shadows. He wished he had some popcorn.

"Z-Zacharias is down here!" Scotcher added. "I don't know where, but he's somewhere! He's alive, and I can help you find him!"

"If he's here, that means he's traveling in the direction of Lumeral, no?" Liskey asked. "The problem sorts itself out, in that case."

"F-Fine, be that way!" Scotcher yelled, pouting. "I don't need you guys! I'm a genius!"

"Pull your damned ears open, idiot!" the Ribombee shouted. "Listen to a word the lady's saying!"

"Huh?"

The Tsareena cleared her throat, a slight hint of glee behind her eyes. "The wording in the declaration was not that your employment will be terminated, it was that you will be."

Scotcher blinked once or twice as the meaning of those words registered. "...No. No, you aren't!"

Liskey manifested a glowing green blade around her arm, and after a few seconds of catching her breath, she steadily approached Scotcher.

Scotcher began to shout and scream incoherently, but not a single person in the room offered even a hint of sympathy. The only one giving any indication of distress at all was Fabian, whose squirming on the floor had slightly increased in ferocity.

The Tsareena and the Meowscarada met eyes for one last instant.

The Solar Blade sliced right through Scotcher's neck.